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Sustainable issues in modern books for children aged 6 to 10 years (Master thesis)

Μπουνταλάκη, Ξανθούλα/ Bountalaki, Xanthoula

The Environmental Education aims at forming active citizens with a friendly behavior towards the environment. The environmental problems as well as the relationship between the environment and human beings constitute the key elements of the Environmental Education. The need to preserve the natural and cultural goods, the complication of the phenomena and the weakness of modern economic theories to suggest satisfying solutions, led to the rise of theories for the complete management of the open space. In Rio Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 a question about the quantification of the sustainability concept was raised and the creation of complex rates of sustainable development was determined. In general, the rates constitute a useful tool both for experts and common citizens, as they describe a system and help taking political decisions. In Greece, the creation of such rates locally may help in the solution of major problems, such as the lack of complete environmental and land planning, economic and social inequalities (Liakou, 2021). On the other hand, Children’s Literature comprises a considerable tool of transmitting knowledge and values to children so that they are equipped with all the necessary qualifications that a modern human needs. Qualifications such as developed critical thinking and self-respect, respect towards other people and the environment around them in order to carry out their duties satisfactorily towards the constantly changing needs and requirements of modern society. The modern society, however, face daily a series of phenomena which tend to disorganize its function and coherence. One such phenomenon is immigration that constitutes the field of study of this dissertation as well as the reasons that cause it. Furthermore, the present study aims at giving prominence to the face of human-immigrant as well as the way and the conditions under which he is welcomed to the new country. The present dissertation focuses on studying books addressed to children aged 6-10. Through the content exploration of these literature books related to immigration, the educational character of children’s literature is emphasized with influences from the Environmental Education and its positive impact on children-readers, related to the acquisition of new qualifications both in learning and personal level for cultivating attitudes, beliefs and ideologies which are necessary for their future life. The outcomes of this study capture the different causes of immigration which are raised by economic, ecological, political and social conditions. Moreover, the outcomes point out the face of the protagonist and his personality traits which, if exploited in a suitable way, can effectively cultivate empathy to young readers. Additionally, through the sample studying a lot of social phenomena have been brought out like racism, school bullying, and sometimes illegal child labor. However, in a few of these stories, due to the interference of the magical element which is always present in modern stories for children, we can observe the immediate restoration of matters and the confirmation that as long as you live, you must hope and strive both in personal and public level for the fulfillment of a better future.